Our approach

We work on HIV, health and human rights through local, national and global action with communities in over 40 countries on four continents. We know real change comes through community action and involving people living with and most affected by HIV in the design and delivery of health services.

Targeting the most affected

We focus our investment in countries where we can make the biggest impact, and we concentrate our efforts on those most affected but often ignored.

In all of the countries where we work, we focus on those most vulnerable to HIV. This includes marginalised or criminalised people such as LGBT people, sex workers and people who use drugs.

In countries where women and girls are disproportionately affected, this is where we direct our attention, alongside the marginalised groups.

Another strong focus of our work is young people (0-19 years) who account for 40% of all new HIV infections globally.

Most people living with HIV, as well as some of the world’s poorest, live in middle-income countries. This poses a significant challenge, as overseas aid is rapidly being withdrawn from many of the countries where we work. With millions of people still not accessing the services they need we cannot afford to shy away from this challenge.

We believe the lives of all human beings are equal and everyone has the right to access the HIV information and services they need for a healthy life. That’s why our programmes and our advocacy take a human rights response.

Organisations donors can depend on

The Alliance includes national organisations worldwide – known as Linking Organisations – which receive technical and financial assistance from the international secretariat based in the UK, and from each other.

In turn, Linking Organisations support and develop thousands more non-governmental and community-based organisations to mobilise communities to end AIDS. Some of these Linking Organisations also provide direct HIV services, and some host our Regional Technical Support Hubs which provide assistance to support the HIV response.

All Linking Organisations have signed our Charter and Linking Agreement which describes the Alliance, how it works, what its values and commitments are and how they will be honoured. We are transparent and clear about the standards, integrity and professionalism of all organisations that are part of the Alliance, including the international secretariat.

Our Accreditation System ensures that Linking Organisations are able to demonstrate that they have appropriate governance and organisational management systems, and can implement specialist HIV programming and policy work which is good value, effective and designed with the involvement of the people who need them the most. For further information read our Accreditation Resources.

Measuring our impact

The premise on which the Alliance was founded 20 years ago – that community mobilisation is an essential means to end AIDS – is more relevant today than ever.

Our theory of change sets out the difference we want to see in the world, the evidence behind our chosen strategies, and guides the impact of our HIV programming.

We are committed to learning from each other. In partnership with research institutions, we are using our knowledge to help shape the future HIV response, regularly contributing to relevant research.

We want to ensure that all aspects of our work are having a significant impact towards our goal of ending AIDS. We collect data so we can track how we’re progressing on our strategy and we publish our data in the International AID Transparency Initiative.